The right thing and a first for him

So after an enormously,

scorching hot

full of stimuli

pure excitement of Sarah's 7th birthday party (finally got my act together)

and it was the hottest of the day so far- literally 104

and and are you ready.... this is big...

Ty's first time EVER in a bouncy house!

Sometime later I will go into the absolute trauma that bouncy houses have caused us over the years (not from an experience, but by literally a presence- if he saw one in the corner of his eye...

he was GONE!

Ever since he was little...this has been an issue..

And I literally forgot, well kind of...

and to surprise Sarah for her party which was also a monumental event taking place AT OUR HOUSE (which I think has happened 3 times EVER between all my kids

so 10 little 6-7 year old girls, a surprise bouncy house for Sarah (and yes she was so excited) plus all our usual play equipment including my free standing rock wall I made

and I hadn't even realized it until last night at bedtime, after all festivities were over

Ty had never been in a bouncy house before...

and let me tell you He HAD SO MUCH FUN!

and as difficult day as it was because so much happening around him- HE DID IT!

and only minor outburts ... it was amazing... cool part too was the party was only 1 1/2 hours long (I"m a short and sweet kind of party thrower) and yet the bounce house was a 5 hour rental.... which meant bouncing before the party- bouncing long after the party was over...

it also had a slide in it.. but all 3 of my kids were having such a great time...

cousins stayed longer to play and jump

and don't get me wrong- it was a hard day for him, he struggled, he cried, but each difficult moment, we got through without HITTING or THROWING>.. Gretchen helped a lot

it was so nice and it was how I had hoped the day would go.

in fact during the party at the very end Ty wanted to bring Gretchen out and show her offZ

so she did her thing by "getting" the goodie bags and bringing them to each child.... Ty was proud, the kids loved it- it was a very good moment for him.

and then he asked who ever wants to shake her hand to come up and say "shake".. the kids loved it-

this is that part where they say dogs can help "bridge" the social part that kids on the spectrum struggle so much with... yeah that- big deal!

Love this dog, love how she is every day changing our son's life and our families life and we are seeing the most amazing things from him already!

Incredible day for all of us- a special party day for Sarah, and I know Gretchen will continue to be by his side through some of the tough transitions coming up (end of school, change in routine, exploring outside our home just a little bit more, and simply experiencing what it is to live and be happy

such an awesome mommy moment, such an awesome parent moment and such a wonderful feeling inside that we are "doing the right thing" for our son

that is exactly how I feel about our entire situation

no one said it would be easy, we are not expecting it to be easy

but certainly we are doing the right thing for Ty

this I know!